


Know Thy Neighbour

by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Apple Pie Life, Apples, Children, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Light Romance, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 01:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16651729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns/pseuds/DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns
Summary: Adrian moved to a Muggle neighbourhood, intent on not meeting his neighbours just yet. He didn't know that he knew one already. And he wanted to know her a little bit more.





	Know Thy Neighbour

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the #HavenHarvest18 on Hermione's Haven! With the prompt Hermione/apple/Adrian

Adrian had been in the neighbourhood a little over a week, not bothering to meet any of his neighbours because he didn’t want them privy to his background. His daughter Elodie liked to make things difficult, running around the backyards and gardens of a few of his neighbours’ houses. As luck would have it, none of his neighbours was home when she’d be found dirty with a head full of flower petals.

Luck didn’t always stay on Adrian’s side, however, because the next time Elodie ran off into the neighbourhood, he didn’t simply find her in the gardens like before. Without a wand—currently resting on the kitchen counter—and the use of wandless magic—he never bothered to learn it—he couldn’t simply perform a charm or spell to locate her. Panic set in, and Adrian gripped his hair. He couldn’t ignore or avoid his neighbours this time. Muggle or not, Adrian had to find his daughter fast.

He walked over to the house across from his, one of the smaller ones on the street. Its simple white décor and dark green trimmings were inwardly appreciated by Adrian, but now was not the time to admire its simplicity.

Adrian knocked on the door sharply and quickly, his nerves jumping all over the place while he waited for someone to come to the door. He jumped when the sound of mewing hit his ears; it was just a cat staring at him in the window.

The door opened, revealing an elder woman. Her olive skin contrasted with her silver coloured hair as her plump body was concealed in a burgundy robe. Another cat was perched on her shoulders.

“What a pleasant surprise,” she cooed. “You’re the new neighbour, yes?”

Adrian cleared his throat and nodded. He could do this. He could talk to Muggles; it was just like wizards without the magic talk.

“I am,” he confirmed. “I’m afraid I can’t stay for pleasantries. Have you seen my daughter? She’s ye high,” Adrian explained, using his hand for gestures. “Dark hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a white dress with red flowers.”

The woman pursed her lips, her faint coloured brows knitted. After a moment that felt like forever to Adrian, the woman shook her head.

“I don’t think I have,” she said, rubbing the cat on her shoulder. “If I see her, I’ll be sure to alert you as soon as possible.”

The cat meowed, and Adrian swallowed, sweat beginning to build on his forehead. Perhaps she was back at the house with a handful of flowers. That’s what he was going to hope and pray to Merlin for. He tipped his head to her, thanking her and leaving quickly without much of a farewell. She didn’t seem to mind since she didn’t call after him; he’d have to get her name later before the woman made her way to his door with a basket of Merlin knows what.

“Daddy!”

Adrian whipped his head to the call, meeting the big bright eyes of his daughter. He grinned, his chest light with relief as he made his way to her. What made him pause in his step was that Elodie was not running to his arms. In fact, she was settled in someone else’s arms.

A woman that looked to be around his age with soulful brown eyes and a gentle smile. Her hair fell in layers past her shoulders, and she was looking at Adrian with a sense of familiarity that he should have seen sooner.

“I believe you’re looking for this little one,” she mused.

Adrian laughed in disbelief. Just when he thought he didn’t want to meet his neighbours, he’d already known one of them.

“Of all the people to bump into,” he said, walking towards her and his child. “Hermione Granger. And here I thought the last I’d see of you would be in the Daily Prophet working in the Ministry.”

Hermione snorted lightly, rocking Elodie in her arm almost instinctively in Adrian’s eyes. “That got old rather quickly, and this is near the neighbourhood my parents grew up.” She looked around fondly. “It felt like the right decision at the time.”

“By yourself?” Adrian asked, an eyebrow raised. While he didn’t particularly care, the Slytherin in him wouldn’t allow him to _not_ gather information when he could.

She nodded. “Yes, by myself. Ron and I have taken separate paths, and we’re still friends. Happily.”

Elodie clapped, ceasing the conversation. “She made your favourite, Daddy! I can still smell it!”

Hermione looked at him sceptically while Adrian subconsciously licked his lips. Hermione couldn’t have known that apple pie was his favorite—he practically drooled for it like Malfoy to chocolate cake—and that must have been what derailed Elodie from her typical yard hustle.

“Well, how about we finish conversing over a couple of slices,” Hermione offered. “Consider it my ‘welcome to the neighbourhood’ greeting as well as a consolation for your daughter.”

Adrian almost forgot that Elodie was the reason he was outside in the first place. He cleared his throat and followed behind Hermione and Elodie. He couldn’t help but admire the soft sway of her hips as she walked, even in the cotton sweater she sported.

He followed her to the burgundy trimmed home a house down from the elder woman. Seeing the burgundy paint made him snort. Gryffindor through and through. He entered her home, feeling the familial theme immediately.

Pictures of Hermione and her friends were over many of the shelves and table, the cream paint complimenting the auburn wooded furniture and brown carpets. Adrian fingered the books on her wall shelf, and the smell of apples filled his nose.

“Still the bookworm,” Adrian commented with a chuckle, hoping it masked the desire for the apple pie he’d yet to see.

Hermione set Elodie down, facing Adrian. “And proud,” she retorted before jerking her head in a direction that led to an entryway. “This way.”

Adrian went behind her through the entryway, seeing a dining room in a similar theme as the living room with the cream walls and auburn wood. Beyond the dining room was the kitchen, and the pie smell intensified.

“I just so happened to be home today,” Hermione said casually when she entered the kitchen. She grabbed a green apple from the basket on the counter and took a bite from it. After chewing and swallowing the piece, she glanced over at Adrian and Elodie. “A colleague is covering my shift at the library, so I thought it would be a good time for me to relax, bake, and read.” She kept her gaze on Elodie with a smile. “As soon as I opened my window to let it cool off, Miss Elodie was right there.”

Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s a wanderer,” he said. “Getting curiouser and curiouser as she grows.”

The brunette laughed. “I can attest to that. My parents had a handful with me anytime I would go outside,” she said. “No harm done.”

Hermione set her apple down and grabbed some plates and eating utensils from the kitchen cupboard and drawer, setting them on the kitchen bar. She grabbed a pie cutter to slice the pie. Adrian picked the excited child up and set her on one of the stools.

“She told me she knew you from your special school,” Elodie whispered to Adrian, her hand cupping the side of her mouth.

He nodded with a smile. “As a matter of fact, we were in different groups,” he said. “What she didn’t know was that I wanted to get in her group, despite what my friends though because I was fascinated with the bright woman.”

Adrian saw the faint blush grace Hermione’s cheeks as she carefully cut and placed the pie slices on the plates. He smirked at her reaction before looking back at his daughter.

“Like a crush?” Elodie asked.

“Something like that,” he replied, glancing at Hermione when she brought two plates in front of them.

All Elodie’s attention went to the pie in front of her, and for that, Adrian was relieved. He didn’t want Hermione knowing everything about him fancying her in the past.

Hermione sat next to Adrian, her pie sitting in front of her, but an apple was in her hand. She bit into it, and naughty thoughts crept into Adrian’s head. He had to push those _far_ , _far_ away for when they were alone.

“When Mrs Reed noticed the new neighbour, I had a guess it was a wizard,” Hermione commented. “However, you were the last one I imagined would be in a Muggle cul-de-sac. It’s nice to see the diversity and change progress beyond the wizarding world.”

Adrian bit into his pie, moaning softly from the delectable taste hitting his tongue. He waited until he finished swallowing to respond. “I agree,” he said as he pointed to the half eaten pie. “This is amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I love apple pie.”

Hermione looked down. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s my mum’s recipe. She taught it to me over the summers I’d come home from Hogwarts.”

“Your mother is a genius.”

“All this flattery will get you another piece of the pie.”

“I’m hoping for it.”

Hermione smiled at him, and Adrian couldn’t help but smile back. Things were so much easier when they weren’t wearing opposing coloured ties and sleeping in different House quarters.

* * *

 

After pie, the three were in Adrian’s backyard—mostly because Elodie’s toys were already set up there. Hermione and Adrian were sitting on the swing while Elodie was playing and running around, her dress billowing with every step she made.

Adrian had made sure that he’d gotten another slice of pie and Hermione’s basket of apples too. He was eating a piece as they swung gently on the swing.

“She’s beautiful,” Hermione said, watching Elodie.

He smiled at his daughter as he chewed on his piece of pie. “She gets it from her mother. Merlin rest her soul. Tracey died in childbirth,” he explained.

Hermione’s eyes were filled with concern when she looked at him. “I’m so sorry,” she said softly.

Adrian shook his head. “No need to apologize. Fate doesn’t go wrong.” It’s what he believed, and it helped him grieve over his wife. “Like it didn’t in me seeing you again.”

“Oh really?” Hermione said.

“Yes, really. You make one hell of an apple pie,” Adrian replied. “A woman after my own heart.”

She chuckled lightly, her hand resting on his arm. “Maybe one day, Adrian. Though I think I’ll have to steal Elodie’s first.”

Adrian didn’t brush away the thoughts of Hermione fitting right into the picture alongside him and Elodie. He wouldn’t mind it in the slightest. Adrian finished his pie as Hermione reached for another apple; their fingers brushed against one another.

He looked in her eyes because he knew she felt that jolt of electricity too. Adrian licked his lips, and this time, it wasn’t for the thought of tasting apple pie.

“That day may come sooner than later.”


End file.
